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The Mede Dynasty
is the second ruling dynasty of the Third Empire of Tamriel, commonly just referred to as the Empire of Tamriel. The dynasty was founded in the 4th Era when the Colovian Warlord Titus Mede conquered the Imperial City with 1000 soldiers and took the throne from Thules the Gibbering. They ruled the Empire for almost 200 years before they lost the throne to the New Septim Dynasty following the Stormcrown Rebellion. History The Medes, before becoming the ruling Imperial Dynasty, were a minor noble family from Colovia. However, they had deep militaristic roots, with many Medes having served as generals in the Imperial Legion during the 3rd Era. They had a reputation for being great tacticians and mighty warriors, but held no political power in Cyrodiil. There are rumors, however, that the Medes might be descendants of the Claudian Emperors that ruled the Empire during the Interregnum after the Tharn Dynasty lost the throne to the Pretenders. The Warlord Attrebus Claudian was the first Emperor of that Dynasty and his descendants ruled for a few generations before being killed by Akaviri followers of Ada'Soom Dir-Kamal. After the Oblivion Crisis and the death of Martin Septim, the High Chancellor was appointed Pontentate and he made it his duty to help the Elder Council decide on the next Emperor. The Septim line was extinct, but it had intermarried into other families. Ocato went searching through them to find a worth ruler, but didn't. He even considered the Lariats of Shornhelm, whom were descendants of Uriel IV, but not true Septims. However his search came to an end when he was assassinated in 4E 10. The Ruby Throne came under the control of the Nibenese noble Thules the Gibberling, of a well respected family from Nibenay. He used his contacts in Nibenay to come into the possession of the Ruby Throne, though many of the Elder Council didn't like him. Thules was a wizard, nicknamed a witch-warrior, and a his crowning had been won through deception. Many cursed him for it and questioned his authority. One such man was Titus Mede. Titus Mede was a general in the Imperial Legion, considered one of the best in recent memory. He had led the defense of Colovia against the Daedric forces during the Crisis and gained much fame for it. He used this fame to turn people against Thules, calling him weak, dishonorable and a coward. He had the support of some in the Elder Council and much of Colovia, though none wanted to openly start a rebellion against Thules so soon after the Oblivion Crisis. Titus ignored them and rounded up 1000 of his most trusted, most experienced soldiers in the Legion and marched on the Imperial City. With help from the inside, the Elder Council, he was able to breach the city walls without a fight and marched on the White-Gold Tower. Thules' supporters tried to fight but ultimately the tower was captured and the Nibenese Emperor was captured by Titus. Thules was executed by the general he took the Ruby Throne, crowing himself Titus Mede I. Thules' supporters cursed him as a Warlord. Titus I's reign was very unstable, with the Empire still recovering from the Oblivion Crisis and numerous provinces splitting off from the Empire, like the Summerset Isles, Black Marsh and Morrowind. However Titus wasn't too focused outside of Cyrodiil. He spent most of his reign stabilizing his power base in the heart of the Empire, to make sure he wasn't overthrown like his predecessor. During his reign, Titus also had to deal with the appearance of the city of Umbra. The other generations of Medes had very peaceful reigns, without any rebellions or much instability within the Empire. The only issues were the splitting off of two more provinces, Valenwood and Elsweyr. During the reign of Attrebus II, there was a double marriage pact between the Medes and the Hassildors, to tie the families together and ensure the wealthiest of the counts wouldn't go against the Emperor's wishes. Titus Mede II's Reign Only in the reign of Titus Mede II did the dynasty face trouble. By the time of Titus Mede II, a new Empire had formed in Tamriel, the Aldmeri Dominion. This elven led empire had ambitions and they brought them into direct conflict with the Mede Empire. The Dominion tried to make demands of the Empire, after killing all the Blades that were in Dominion territory and sending their heads to the Imperials when they refused to meet their demands. Following the Emperor's refusal of the absurd demands, the Aldmeri declared war on the Empire and invaded both Hammerfell and Cyrodiil. The attack was so sudden in both fronts that the elves made quick progress against their enemy, capturing most of southern Hammerfell and western Cyrodiil. Before the Empire could mount a counter-attack, the Dominion's head general led a force against the Imperial City. Emperor Titus Mede II chose to abandon the city instead of fighting. This action caused an uproar among the Empire that was felt throughout the rest of Titus II's reign, with many condeming it as an unthinkable action. However, Titus II had his reasons, he decided that it was better to live to fight another day and that was exactly what he did. While the Dominion was raiding the Imperial City, the Emperor headed north and met up with the Legions coming in from Skyrim. He formed up his legions and created a ingenius plan to retake the capital. What followed was considered by many as the greatest military victory in all of the Empire's history, even rivaling the victories of Tiber Septim himself, the Battle of the Red Ring. The Dominion had their largest force stationed in the Imperial City with their head general, Lord Naarifin, leading them. They had bunkered down and were ready for anything that the Empire could throw at them, or so they thought. Titus Mede II organized his Legions around Lake Rumare, blocking off any reinforcements for Lord Naarifin, and stormed the city from nearly all sides. The Dominion's army was overwhelmed and utterly defeated, their largest army destroyed at the hands of the Imperials. The Empire, however, also suffered heavy losses. Because of this, the Emperor thought it best to broker a peace instead of making his people have to suffer through more years of war. The Thalmor agreed to a peace, but only if the Empire accepted their initial terms. Titus reluctantly agreed, not wanting to continue to war any further. However the terms were very one-sided and this caused only more uproars and instability for Titus's reign. Hammerfell was outraged by the terms and seceded from the Empire, choosing the fight the Dominion by themselves. Ultimately the Redguards were able to push the Aldmeri out of Hammerfell and reclaimed all their lands, which only caused more criticism of the Emperor for giving in so easily. The repercussions of the White-Gold Concordat, the treaty signed between the Empire and the Dominion, were felt for years after the war and only cause more problems for the Empire. Years later, in Skyrim, the terms of the White-Gold Concordat caused the start of a strong religious rebellion called the Stormcloak Rebellion. The Imperial Legion was called in to deal with the Nords' uprising, but along with the Civil War in Skyrim another crisis erupted, the return of the dragons. With all the confusion, the Legion was not able to swiftly defeat the Stormcloaks and the war dragged on. While the war was going on, the Emperor's cousin, Vittoria Vici got engaged to a Nord who's family was supporting the Stormcloaks. This was seen as a possible start for peace between both sides so the Emperor set off for Solitude to attend the wedding. However, Titus II's ship was delayed. The Emperor ended up missing the wedding. Later, upon arrival, he learned that Vittoria had been brutally murdered during her own wedding. The Emperor decided to stay in Skyrim while the Penitus Oculatus investigated the incident. Though he acted with caution and sent a body double to act as him while he stayed in the Katariah, his ship. Soon the body double was murdered as well, but the Penitus Oculatus had been able to figure out the culprit. The Dark Brotherhood was responsible. They learned this when one of their members approached them in order to broker a deal to betray one of their own in exchange for amnesty for their actions in the death of Vittoria Vici. Titus, however, didn't agree to the terms and ordered the Penitus Oculatus to kill the brotherhood. After the death of the body double, the assassin got away despite their best efforts. Though the Penitus Oculatus was able to burn down the Brotherhood Sanctuary and kill nearly all its members. 4 survived, however, and they continued on their mission. When the Emperor heard that the assassin that killed his double had escaped, he figured that he would come after him. Titus came to the realization that he was soon to be dead. Someone had put out a contract on his head and the Dark Brotherhood was planning on collecting. Knowing that those Sithis worshiping assassins would follow him to the ends of the earth in order to kill him, he decided not to run. He stayed aboard the Katariah, waiting for the assassin to arrive. Not long after the Sanctuary was destroy that Titus heard the door to his cabin open. He saw the assassin, dressed in black and red, and talked with him, telling him that he has accepted his fate. Though before he turned around to let the assassin do his deed, he beckoned for the assassin to complete his dying wish...to kill the man that ordered the assassination. The assassin agreed to this and Titus turned around, looking out the window to the sea of ghosts, in his opinion a fitting final sight. After Titus Mede II was murdered, the assassin did as he was asked and killed the contractor. Amaund Motierre, an Elder Council member and a Thalmor supported in the Empire, was the one that ordered the killing. He didn't make it out of Skyrim alive. War of Succession Coat of Arms Their Sigil When the Mede Dynasty came into the Ruby Throne the adopted the Septim sigil, the Red Dragon, as their sigil. However instead of a red dragon on a white field they used a black dragon on a red field. This color scheme was later also adopted by the Imperial Legion. Their Words The Mede Dynasty's words are Crowned by Storm, Rule by Law. This is a reference of how they came into power in the Stormcrown Interregnum, the period after the Oblivion Crisis and the destruction of the Septim Dynasty in which no clear Dynasty ruled the Empire and much of it was ruled by a Potentate or a temporary Emperor like Thules the Gibbering. Family Tree Rulers *Titus Mede I (4E 17 - 51) *Attrebus Mede I (4E 51 - 89) *Claudius Mede I (4E 89 - 116) *Attrebus Mede II (4E 116 - 143) *Flavius Mede (4E 143 - 168) *Titus Mede II (4E 168 - 202) *Claudius Mede II (4E 202 - 204) *Augustus Mede (4E 204 - 215) *Livia Mede (4E 215 -), wife of Emperor Darius Septim. Status With the dynasty losing the Ruby Throne following the Stormcrown Rebellion they are bound for extinction. The only remaining members of the Mede Dynasty are Empress Livia and the son of Augustus Mede. However Livia's children will all be part of the New Septim Dynasty instead of the Mede Dynasty, and Augustus' son's location and status are currently unknown. Trivia *The longest ruling Emperor of the Mede Dynasty was Emperor Attrebus Mede I, who ruled for 38 years before his death. *The shortest ruling Emperor of the Mede Dynasty was Emperor Claudius Mede II, who ruled for only 2 years before being killed by his brother. *As a whole, the Mede Dynasty ruled for 198 years. *Both the Claudian and Mede Dynasties were started by Warlords from Colovia, Attrebus and Titus respectively. *It is assumed that Titus I named his son after the founder of the Claudian Dynasty, his rumored ancestor. **Attrebus I named his son after the Claudians. **Titus II named his second son after a famous Claudian, Augustus Claudian, who fought in the Alliance War while the Tharns were still in power in Cyrodiil almost 300 years before Attrebus Claudian took power. Category:Factions Category:Bloodlines Category:Royalty Category:Mede Dynasty Category:Dynasties